IPL spot-fixing: Rajasthan Royals to suspend co-owner Raj Kundra

Rajasthan Royals issued a statement on Friday saying that if proven guilty of betting, co-owner Raj Kundra will be suspended, as per reports.

The statement said that Kundra will be suspended and his shares will be forfeited if he is proven guilty. The statement was given after the Delhi Police claimed that the Kundra had confessed to betting.

Notably Raj Kundra is a minority shareholder in Rajasthan Royals with a 11.7% stake.

Earlier in the day, Raj Kundra appointed eminent lawyer Majeed Memon as his counsel in connection with the IPL spot-fixing case.

Kundra wrote on his Twitter account, “I have now appointed Mr Majeed Memon as my council my official statements coming soon through Memon sir. Truth will prevail! (sic)”

Meanwhile, in support of her husband, Shilpa Shetty on Thursday wrote on the micro-blogging site: “Really upset with the media fr casting aspersions without any proof, making derogatory statements..Uncalled for and not to be tolerated(sic).”

She also tweeted: “Just to reiterate, will do it all it takes to reach to the bottom of this “spot-fixing case” and be of complete help till that happens!(sic).”

The reactions came after media reports claimed that the Delhi Police have seized Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra`s passport and asked him not to leave the country till the spot-fixing probe is over.

It was also reported that Kundra might be arrested as Delhi Police have not ruled out the possibility of his arrest.

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Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 will give you a migraine

One of the most worrying things in Mumbai this week is the billboard cluster of six (or is it eight?)Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 posters on Bandra’s Turner Road. Double the madness, it insists. Double the hotness, double the action, double the fun.
Considering they’re drawing comparisons with the first Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011), this is not saying very much. To say I don’t remember YPD would be misleading. The truth is that I walked out seven minutes into the film. It was unbearable. Almost equally unbearable was having to later discover that it was something of a hit at the box office.

Courtesy: Facebook

But I’d barely given the first film a chance. Maybe I’d missed something? So I forced myself to keep an open mind as I eenie-meenie-mynie-moh’ed myself into a seat at the empty cinema hall for the sequel to the “Deol funfest”.
Blade and wrist? Brain and hammer? Fire and skin? Pen and eyeball? Rat poison and aaloo samosa? Whichever combination seems to your mind the quickest and least painful way to go, take it. And go. Not to the cinema, but out of it.
Directed by Sangeeth Sivan, YPD2 brings back all the Deols — Dharam (Dharmendra), Paramveer (Sunny Deol) and Gajodhar (Bobby Deol). Why is anybody’s guess.
This time the money-hungry Dharam and his conman son Gajodhar leave Benares for the UK, to visit their straight-as-an-arrow son and brother Paramveer, who is a highly annoying, turbaned do-gooder. He is so earnest and try-hard that it makes your brain bleed out of your nose.
There is another agenda, of course. For Gajodhar – of the fictitious Oberoi Oberoi and Oberoi Industries fame – to marry Suman (Neha Sharma), daughter of assumed billionaire Sir Yograj (Annu Kapoor) for money. Except, it turns out she’s not his daughter, but *like* his daughter. Semantics, semantics. His real daughter is Reet (Kristina Akheeva), who very quickly becomes the apple of Param’s needy eyes.
Trying very hard (but mostly failing) to add comedy to the film is good old Johnny Lever, first talking like Shah Rukh K-k-k-Khan, then ‘disguised’ as a sardar (Bunty Singh), then a Chinese man named Bunty Chong, then a Japanese fellow named Bunty Hiroshima. One scene has him introducing himself as Bunty Hiroshima and his partner Babli Nagasaki, and they’ve come “to report ke plan bomb ho gaya”.
Oh wait. The movie also stars Anupam Kher in a long-haired blond wig and astronaut costume. His name is Joginder Armstrong (if I didn’t hear it wrong, people call him Dude-ji). At one point he declares that his life’s mission is to erect the eighth wonder of the world: a gravity-defying mall. But I have no idea what he’s doing in the film in the first place. This could be because I walked out at the interval, though I seriously doubt he finds any defining purpose in the second half of the film.
Actually, this is one of the major flaws of YPD2: too many unnecessary characters. They don’t add to the comedy, just your migraine. What is the need to force-fit a woman who talks like a cat, or a flatulent Sumo wrestler, or an orang-utan who gets as much screen time as the three Deols? Ok, the orang-utan makes sense: he fits so seamlessly into the Deol family. But whoever thought it would be hilarious if Bobby Deol’s character mistook MF Husain for Zakir Hussain, and Leonardo da Vinci for Leonardo DiCaprio, go back to whence you came.
Through the 140-minute runtime, not one character is allowed to miss their chance to spoof another Bollywood film or actor. From Salman Khan’s most famous dialogues, to the world famous Shah Rukh K-k-k-Khan stammer (WHY ARE WE NOT DONE WITH THIS ALREADY?), to the ’70s formula of saving a girl from goons and winning her heart.
They’ve got 100 tricks up their sleeves, but not one works. In fact, all they do is distract you from an already-messy storyline, so by the end of it, you have absolutely no idea what’s going on. My suggestion is that if you’re at the movies and YPD2 is one of the options, take it off the list. Head straight to the next theatre. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

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Kanye West: What He Wants From Kim Kardashian On His Birthday

Kanye’s 36th birthday is coming up on June 8, and a source tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY what Kanye wants his pregnant girlfriend to give him on his special day! Read on the find out.

Although Kim Kardashian, 32, is already giving Kanye West, 35, a pretty special belated birthday present (a baby girl!), a source tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY that Kanye has something else in mind for what he’d like to have on his 36th birthday!

What Kanye West Wants From Kim Kardashian For His Birthday

“He doesn’t want Kim to think about trying to do something big for [him] on his birthday when she’s pregnant,” the source explains. “He’s not that f**king selfish! All he really wants for his birthday is peace of mind for himself and Kim.”
Aww that’s so sweet that Kanye doesn’t expect anything from Kim while she’s pregnant! The source also notes that Kanye would love to be able to spend his special day with his pregnant girlfriend, but unfortunately they’ll be apart because of his schedule. ”[H]e got shows to do in NYC and that’s that. Business first and Kim knows that and she’s cool with that.”
The source adds that although he’ll be away in NYC, Kanye may have something up his sleeve so the couple can spend his birthday together. [H]e might just pull something off so he can be with her on his birthday. Yeah, he wants to have that on his birthday, so knowing him he’ll try to make some s**t happen.”

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Kim Kardashian's pregnant figure immortalised in sculpture

06 JUNE 2013 Kim Kardashian's pregnant figure has been immortalised by artist Daniel Edwards. Celebrity sculptor Daniel has created a life-size version of the pregnant reality TV star, said to symbolise good luck, in a collection entitled 'L.A Fertility'.

Unveiled on Wednesday at LAB ART Gallery in L.A, the sculpture displays Kim's nude body without any arms and visitors are being encouraged to rub the statue's pregnant belly for good luck.

"I'm stripping it of the details people get stuck on," said Daniel added in reference to unpleasant comments Kim has been dealing with over the course of her pregnancy. "So they can see the beauty."

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"I was inspired by the beauty of Kim Kardashian and felt quite put-off by the media's criticism of her weight gain during pregnancy," Daniel added. "Such criticism should be off limits."

"People tend to look at the parts, like the creases in her armpits," Daniel criticised. "Or how she wore a dress that makes her look like a killer whale".

In addition to the Kim's life-size figurine, Daniel also created a sculpture of hers and Kanye West's unborn child. The baby, who was recently revealed to be a baby girl, joins a  prenatal representation of Kate Middleton and Prince William's child in the collection.

Kim Kardashian

Kim's sculpture is now part of Daniel's large catalogue of celebrity-based works. In 2006 the Indiana-born artist caused a stir when he unveiled 'Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston', which depicted Britney Spears giving birth.

Daniel has also immortalised Scarlett Johansson, Angelina Jolie and Paris Hilton, amongst several other famous names.

The sculpture's unveiling comes just a Kim's divorce from Kris Humphries was finalised on Monday. After months of negotiation a judgment was entered on Monday night in Los Angeles Superior Court and their divorce was finalised.

The former couple, who were married for 72 days, reached a settlement agreement in April, but were waiting for the final step that would officially end the marriage.

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Crews search for survivors day after Philadelphia building collapse

Rescue crews clawed through rubble today searching for more survivors the day after a building collapsed in downtown Philadelphia, killing six people and injuring 14 others.
Investigators, meanwhile, tried to determine what caused a four-story building that was being demolished to collapse onto a neighboring Salvation Army Thrift Store at 10:45 a.m. EDT (1445 GMT) on Wednesday, burying shoppers in concrete and debris.

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• Photos: Building collapse in Philadelphia

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In a round-the-clock search, rotating fire companies picked through the heaps of concrete chunks and splintered wood at the scene on Philadelphia's busy Market Street, partially blocked off since the disaster, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Fire Department said on Thursday.
Mayor Michael Nutter suggested at a late night news conference on Wednesday that the number of casualties could rise.
"We still do not know how many people were inside the thrift store or possibly on the sidewalk" at the time of the collapse, Nutter said. "If someone else is in that building, they will find them."
Shortly after the mayor concluded his press briefing, a 61-year-old woman was pulled from the rubble alive, more than 12 hours after the collapse, and taken to a hospital in critical condition.
"They were digging, they felt her, and then she was able to respond and squeeze their hand," Michael Resnick, Philadelphia's public safety director, told Reuters.
"She was talking to the firefighters who were pulling her out," Resnick said. "It feels outstanding to pull out somebody who is alive."
The overnight search by dozens of police and firefighters was lit by large spotlights as residents watched. Several streets remained blocked off.
Authorities declined to identify the dead other than to say that they included one man and five women who had all been inside the thrift store when the building next door came down.
"GROUND SHAKING"
Most of the injured were also thought to have been inside the store or on the sidewalk in front of it at the time. Aside from the last woman rescued, most were said to be in stable condition.
Authorities say the cause of the sudden collapse, which occurred at 22nd and Market streets in the heart of Philadelphia's busy Center City district, was still under investigation.
One witness, 31-year-old Dan Gillis of Cinnaminson, New Jersey, a construction worker on a job across the street, said he saw a crane remove a supporting beam from the front of the building and then the wall next to the thrift store started to sway.
Jeffrey Fehnel, 48, of Philadelphia, said a backhoe hit the rear side of the building at about the same time.
"The building came down. It was like a big blast," Fehnel told Reuters.
A witness told Reuters the building collapse shook the ground and knocked a man off his feet on the sidewalk outside the thrift store.
"It was ground-shaking. The shaking of the ground made the man fall down," said Jordan McLaughlin, 18, of Philadelphia.
Authorities said the building that was being demolished had housed an X-rated book and video store.
They said it was owned by Richard Basciano, a well-known owner of adult entertainment properties including Philadelphia's last X-rated movie house, which closed in 2012, and a New York Times Square pornography emporium known as Show World, which closed in 2004.
Basciano could not be reached for a comment.

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Michelle Obama confronts protester

Michelle Obama won't abide demonstrations during her speeches.
"One of the things that I don't do well is this," the first lady said as a protester began yelling during her speech Tuesday night at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser.
Leaving the lectern, Obama moved toward the shouter and told the crowd they could "listen to me or you can take the (microphone), but I'm leaving. You all decide. You have one choice."
The crowd made clear they wanted the first lady to stay and for the protester to go, which is what happened.
The gay and lesbian rights organization Get EQUAL identified the protester as one of its members, Ellen Sturtz. She was calling for an executive order to bar discrimination by federal contractors based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Obama went on with her speech.
"So let me make the point that I was making before," she said. "We are here for our kids. So we must recapture that passion. That same urgency and energy that we felt back in 2008, 2012. Understand this — this is what I want you all to understand. This is not about us. No one back here. It's not about you or you or your issue or your thing. This is about our children."
A group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans issued a statement saying, "LGBT people in North Carolina, New Mexico, Ohio and all over the country are dehumanized in our jobs, and we are forced into the closet in order to participate in the American dream."
The statement said, "We value the first lady's leadership and invite her to lead the charge within the Democratic Party to end employment discrimination. President Obama has an executive order sitting on his desk that can protect a quarter of the labor force in the U.S. from workplace discrimination. We will continue engaging leaders in the administration and the Democratic Party until President Obama fulfills a promise to our community made five years ago."

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Samantha Power, White House's UN ambassador nominee, has 'seen evil at its worst'

By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News

A self-described "genocide chick" could be this nation's next U.N. ambassador.
Samantha Power — an unrelenting human rights advocate who isn't afraid to speak her mind, sometimes to a fault —was nominated for the position Wednesday afternoon by President Obama.
If approved by the Senate, Power would replace Susan Rice, who after a controversial tenure at the U.N., has been chosen to replace Tom Donilon as national security adviser.
As an intrepid young journalist, Power witnessed horrors in Bosnia and the former Yugoslavia, winning a Pulitzer Prize for a book on genocide. Later, she worked on Obama's presidential campaign, but abruptly resigned after calling Hillary Clinton a "monster." She bounced back to run the White House's human rights office.

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One thing Power has not done is hold a diplomatic post — and now, the woman who has "seen evil at its worst" has her first shot at one.

Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Fortune

Samantha Power is seen at a FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Dinner at the U.S Department Of State's Benjamin Franklin Diplomatic Room on April 30, 2012 in Washington, DC.

Obama’s pick was lauded by human rights activists.
"She's an excellent choice," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "She's seen evil at its worst in the time she was in Bosnia. She's very aware of the violent threats to humanity that are posed by certain nefarious forces around the world. These are precisely the kind of threats that she will need to address and encourage the Security Council to address as U.S. ambassador."
Power, 42, was born in Dublin, Ireland, but raised in the United States. After graduating from Yale and Harvard Law School, she spent her early career as a correspondent for Time Magazine and later The New Yorker, reporting from anywhere crises were happening: Kosovo, Rwanda, Sudan.
Laura Pitter has known Power since 1992 and was a journalist with her in Bosnia during the Balkan war.
"She is brilliant," Pitter, who is now a lawyer and counterterrorism adviser for Human Rights Watch, said. "I can't think of a better candidate for the position she's been nominated for."
That opinion isn't shared by writers at conservative web magazine American Thinker, who have been writing harsh critiques of Power since 2008, arguing that Power is a "notorious critic of Israel."
"She's problematic. She's made some some very questionable statements regarding Israel," said Ed Lasky, co-founder of American Thinker. "She seems to have a strong allegiance towards United Nations and international bodies, and those have not been organizations that have been favorable towards America or toward Israel."
'Genocide chick'Power's time as a Balkan war correspondent prompted her to later write a book on genocide. In 2002’s "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide," Power explored why U.S. policies have repeatedly failed to stop genocide from re-occurring abroad over the last century. The book won Power a Pulitzer Prize the following year, and catapulted her name into political stardom.
"Her greatest claim to fame, which I think she even says, is she's a 'genocide chick.' God help us, but that's Samantha," said Graham Allison, a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government who has known Power for over a decade and co-authored a book with her.
“A Problem from Hell” argues that in many countries, specifically Bosnia and Rwanda, the U.S. could have prevented the murder of at least tens of thousands of people, but politicians' judgment got clouded by geopolitical considerations and worries over domestic support that stopped them from acting. Former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke once said of the book, "It's very painful reading, but it has to be read."
Power's knowledge of genocide will be applicable to any humanitarian crisis, whether it is officially classified as genocide or not, Allison said. She proved this in 2011 with the crisis in Libya, he said, and he believes she'll be an asset for the ongoing Syrian crisis.
"In many instances, we can do something that actually has a huge effect. It's not like we're spending too much blood or treasure," he said.

Power has known Obama since he was a senator; she joined his office in 2005 as a foreign policy fellow, taking a year off from teaching at Harvard to work for him. He had sought her out after reading her book.
Six years later, in March of 2011, as the Libyan human rights disaster was escalating, Power was serving on the Obama's National Security Council as special assistant to the president and senior director running the office of multilateral affairs and human rights.
She encouraged Obama to use military force in Libya, and a no-fly zone was established. Failure to set up a no-fly zone would have been “extremely chilling, deadly and indeed a stain on our collective conscience,” Power told a crowd at Columbia University in New York in March 2011, reported The New York Times.
"Libya's a great case, where we wouldn't intervene on the ground and bleed and kill people," Allison said. "Samantha's job at the NSC was to try to get those dimensions integrated at the high table when people were trying to figure out what to do."

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Power, who generally keeps a low profile — neither she nor her husband, legal scholar Cass Sunstein, returned request for comment for this story — had a moment of infamy on Obama's 2008 campaign trail.
The Hillary moment
Serving as a foreign policy aide to Obama's campaign at the time, Power called Hillary Clinton a "monster" while under the impression that she was speaking off the record to a Scottish newspaper.
"We f***ed up in Ohio," she told The Scotsman newspaper. "In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it, because she knows Ohio's the only place they can win.
"She is a monster, too – that is off the record – she is stooping to anything," she said.
She resigned from the Obama campaign shortly after the remarks were printed.
I extend my deepest apologies to Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, and the remarkable team I have worked with over these long 14 months," Power said in a statement.
Power lives with her husband, legal scholar Cass Sunstein, and their son Declan in Washington, D.C. Neither Power nor Sunstein returned request for comment for this story.
"She's never held a diplomatic post, so this is a big step up for her. But she has the personal skills. That's a real contribution that she'll make. She will put the time and effort in to maintain the friendly relations with the other ambassadors, which in a moment of crisis will make a difference and can be very important for getting things done," Roth, the Human Rights Watch executive director, said.
“Even if she doesn't have the formal background, she has the important skills that will let her succeed."
Following her nomination on Wednesday, Power got a nod of support from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
"I believe she is well-qualified for this important position and hope the Senate will move forward on her nomination as soon as possible," he said in a statement.
Roth said he's not worried about slips-of-the-tongue like the "monster" comment after four years in the White House, which have made Power a seasoned professional.
In her role as U.N. ambassador, Rice generated controversy days after an attack at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012, killed four Americans. Appearing on NBC's "Meet The Press," she said the attack had begun as a spontaneous protest against an anti-Islam film, rather than a terrorist attack

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